Timing device



May 21, 1963 H. D. KRAFT ETAL TIMING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 28, 1961 INVENTORJ'. 74F040 0. KQ4F7' J14 CA A. K/FAFT y 1963 H. D. KRAFT ETAL 3,090,192

TIMING DEVICE Filed Dec. 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I i i I 4/ f I l i "W 5? 30 j 7 1 {Z "M 35 QU- OFF 6'6", l 7\ w IN VENTOR5. F7 57 \I #42040 0 #424 United States Patent NY and .iaclr A. Kraft, 119 Elm Lane, New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Filed Dec. as, 1961, Ser. No. 162,679 4 cases. or. s-s9.5

This invention relates generally to timing devices, and is especially concerned with an elapsed-time meter.

While the timing device of the present invention has been primarily developed and employed for laboratory use, it is appreciated that there are many diverse applications of the present invention, all of which are intended to be comprehended herein.

As is well known, many laboratory procedures, such as viscosity measurements, flammability tests, color-time reactions, precipitation time, prothrombin time, and many others require split-second timing, and have heretofore generally involved the use of a stop watch. This was relatively inconvenient and cumbersome, as it was necessary that the stop watch be held in the users hand, resetting of the stop watch being relatively time-consuming, and reading of a stop watch being tedious and subject to error.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a timing device which overcomes the abovementioned difliculties inherent in use of a conventional stop watch, provides digital indicator of elapsed time for correct reading at a glance, and instantaneous reset by a quick finger touch, and wherein complete operation to Ztart, stop and reset may be effected by a single control lit is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a timing device of the type described wherein complete operation may be effected by the mere touch of a single control bar, by merely pressing the bar to start or stop the timing, and also by pressing the bar to reset the timing mechanism.

The instant timing apparatus also contemplates the provision of cumulative timing, wherein several timing sequences may accumulate, to afford complete versatility in the timing operation.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon readin the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view showing a timer assembly constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional elevational view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4- is a partial front elevational view, broken away to show internal mechanism of the instant device.

FIG. 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic, front elevational view, illustrating certain elements of the instant invention in the reset operation of the indicator.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but illustrating the on or off operation of the instant device.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a modified reset mechanism.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and specifically to FIGS. 1-3 thereof, there is illustrated therein a timing assembly generally designated 10, which includes parallel spaced, upstanding front and rear walls 12 and 13, and parallel spaced side or end walls 14 and 15 extending forwardly and rearwardly between the front and rear walls. A top wall 16 may extend from the upper edge of the rear wall 13, obliquely forward and upward, preferably being provided on its upper side with an upstanding, inverted U-shaped member or handle '17 to facilitate manual grasping for portability. There may be a panel '13 extending obliquely upward and rearward from the upper edge of rear wall 13 to the upper edge of top wall 16, and laterally between the side walls 14 and :15. The panel '18 may have suitable legend for operating instructions, and be provided with other desired copy, and may be at least partially transparent or cut away to afford visibility therethrough, as in the window region 19 of FIG. 1.

Spaced inward of and below the panel 18, in substantial parallelism therewith, is fixed, by any suitable means, a mounting plate 23. Thus, the mounting plate 23 slopes obliquely upward and rearward and combines with the panel 18 to define therebetween a space or chamber 24. Located in the region or space 24 is a drum type counter or indicator of elapsed time 25 mounted on the plate 23 and having numbered discs or wheels 22 to present the elapsed time in digits forwardly through the window 19. The indicator 25 includes "a shaft 27, see FIG. 2, which is operatively connected to the wheels or discs 22 for rotation in one direction during the timing operation. [Also included in the indicator 25 is a zeroing or reset shaft 28, which effects resetting operation of the indicator, as seen in F IG. 2. When the discs or wheels 22 have been reset or zeroed, the shaft 28 resiliently returns, as by spring 59 in FIG. 4, to its position of FIG. 2, without affecting the shaft 27 and wheels 22. The above described mechanism of the indicator may be conventional.

An electric motor driven timing mechanism 30 may be mounted on the plate 23, on the underside thereof, and connected in driving relation with the indicator '25 to effect timing operation of the latter upon energization of the motor.

A switch, generally designated 32, is mounted in the housing 11, say on the rear wall 13 by a bracket 33, and electrically connected, as by conductors 34 to the motor 30 for energizing and deenergizing the latter upon closing and opening of the switch. The switch 32: is preferably of the push-on push-off type, wherein making and breaking of the contacts is accomplished by successively performing the same operation on the switch. That is, the switch =32 includes a depending pressure member or push button 35 resiliently biased downward by a spring 66 and may be opened or closed by upward pushing of the but- 01135 against the spring.

The switch-mounting bracket 33 has one arm 37 generally vertical and secured in facing engagement with the internal surface of the back wall 13, as by one or more fasteners 33 extending through respective vertically elongate slots 3%. A fastener 38 may extend through one or more spacers or washers 40 and threadedly into the rear wall 13 to afford limited vertical adjustability to the bracket arm 37 within the limits of the receiving slot 39.

Extending forwardly from the upper end of the bracket arm 37 is a generally horizontal bracket arm 41. The switch 32 is generally vertically disposed extending through the forward end of the bracket arm 41 and fixedly secured thereto as by nuts 42 and 43 clamped on the upper and lower sides of the horizontal bracket arm.

Resetting wheel 45 may be substituted by a gear 45a, and the elongate tension member 49 may be substituted by a sector gear 49a pivoted to a stud extending from the bracket shelf 41 and having a horizontally extending I 3,0 3 arm 4% on which may rest the re-set end of the bar 65; or if desired, the bar 65 could be eliminated and instead a push button could be used instead of the on-off end of the bar 65 and a separate push button 65a can be used for Contact with the horizontal arm 4%.

fixedly carried on the reset shaft 28 is a resetting member or wheel 45, which may be formed with a circumferential groove 46 and a plurality of circumferentially spaced internally threaded holes 47 extending radially inward through the bottom of the groove. A fastener or screw 48 is selectively engaged in one of the holes 47 and connected to one end of an elongate tension member 49, say a bead chain. The elongate tension member or chain 49 in the illustrated embodiment extends from its fastener 43 rearward in the groove 4-6 and depends below the reset wheel 45.

An anchor member or bar 51 is arranged in the chamber 24 and may have one end secured fast to the plate 23, as by a fastener 52. The other end of the anchor member or bar 51, the upper end in the illustrated embodiment, may be formed with a through opening or hole 53. An annular engaging element or friction ring 54 may be loosely circumposed about the indicator shaft 27; and, a resilient member or expansion coil spring 55 may have its opposite ends connected to the ring 54 and hole 53 of the anchor member to yieldably hold the ring in frictional engagement with the shaft. The force of frictional engagement may be adjustably varied by rotational adjustment of the bar 51, as upon loosening and tightening of the fastener 52.

A generally horizontal pivot shaft 57 extends forwardly and rearwardly throughthe housing 11, having its rear end journaled in a bushing 58 on the rear housing wall 13, and having its forward end extending through and journaled in the front wall 12, and having a shaft collar 59 secured thereto for maintaining the shaft in place. There is provided on the front wall, extending along the lower region thereof and longitudinally coextensive therewith between the side walls 14 and 15, an upwardly opening well 6%. The forward end of the pivot shaft 57 may terminate directly over the well 6%.

Interiorly of the housing 11, an actuating member or arm 62 may be fixed to the pivot shaft 57 and extend laterally from one side thereof to lie directly beneath the switch 32. The actuating member or arm 62 is normally generally horizontal and swingable with the pivot shaft 57 upward, counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 3, to engage and upwardly depress the switch button 35.

Carried by the arm 62, remote from its supporting pivot shaft 57, and extending generally transversely of or forward from the arm is a connection element or rod 63. The rod 63 extends forward to a position almost directly beneath the reset wheel 45 and has its forward end connected to the lower end of the fiexible element or chain 49. Fixed to the forward end of the pivot shaft 57, directly over or within and exposed from the well 60, is an elongate control member or bar 65. The control bar 65 is substantially coplanar with the actuating arm 62, so as to be substantially horizontal when the latter is horizontal, and swingable about the generally horizontal axis of shaft 57.

In operation, the timer it) is started by depressing the right-hand end of the control or operating bar 65, as seen in FIG. 1. This swings the actuating arm 62 upward to depress the switch button 35 upward for energizing and initiating operation of the timing mechanism 30 and read-out 25. Such operation may be stopped by repeated depression of the right-hand end of control bar 65 to effect successive upward pushing of the switch button 35. The above-described sequence may be repeated, as desired, and the readings accumulated, if desired.

Further, the indicator 25 may be quickly and easily reset, whenever desired, by mere depression of the lefthand end of the control bar 65. This causes downward some pull on the flexible member or chain 49 and rotates the reset wheel 4-5 to reset the indicator mechanism. it should be noted that the reset operation does not affect the on-otf operation, see FIG. 5; and further, the on-off operation does not affect the reset operation, the elongate elernent or tension member i9 being loose upon upward swinging movement of the actuating arm 62. However, in the nonactuating, normally horizontal position of the arm 62 and control member 65, the switch button 35 engages the arm to hold it down, while the tension member 50, through the rod 63, holds the actuating arm up. The actuating arm thus automatically returns to its normal or intermediate, nonactuating position.

In the timing and resetting operations, rotation of the shaft 27 is frictionally retarded by the drag or engaging element 54. This is particularly advantageous in preventing overrun of the indicator mechanism upon qnick reset operation. The amount of frictional resistance or drag imposed upon the shaft 27 may be adjusted by positioning the arm or bar 51 to obtain the desired extension of spring 55'.

While the reset wheel 45 automatically returns clocl'- wise, as seen in FIG. 2, after its counterclockwise resetting rotation, under the influence of spring 56, the fastener 43 may be selectively positioned in any desired one of the holes 47 to obtain the optimum upward pull on the actuating arm 62 just sufficient to counteract the downward push of switch button 35 and maintain the actuating arm in its normal nonactuating position. Of course, vertical adjustment of the bracket 33 by the fasteners 38 may also aid in obtaining this optimum counterbalancing of forces applied by the switch button 35 and tension member 49. Additionally, set screws (not shown) for securing reset wheel 45 on shaft 28, may be ioosened and retightened after angularly adjusting the reset wheel on shaft 2%.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the present invention provides a timer assembly which fully accomplishes its intended objects and is well adapted to meet practical conditions of manufacture and use.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A timer assembly comprising a housing, an electrical timing mechanism mounted in said housing, a resettable indicator of clasped time in said housing connected in driven relation with said timing mechanism and exposed for observation extemally of said housing, push-on-pushoff switch means mounted in said housing and electrically connected to said timing mechanism for energizing and deenergizing the latter, an actuating member located in said housing in a nonactuating position, means mounting said actuating member for movement in opposite directions out of said nonactuating position, connection means on each of said switch means and indicator and connected to said actuating member for respectively actuating said switch means in one direction of actuating-member movement and resetting said indicator in the other direction of actuating-member movement, and an operating member exposed externally of said housing and connected to said actuating member for movement therewith, whereby a user can conveniently start and stop the timing mechanism by operation of said actuating member and selectively reset said indicator, the connection means on said switch means comprising a pressure member for urging said actuating member in said other direction toward said nonactuating position, and the connection means on said indicator comprising a flexible tension member for urging said actuating member in said one direction toward said nonactuating position, whereby movement of said actuating member in said one direction from said nonactuating position relaxes said tension member to avoid resetting of said indicator, said operating member comprising a generally horizontal bar pivoted intermediate its ends for swinging movement in opposite directions to eflect actuation of said switch means and resetting of said indicator H depression of respective ends of said operating member, said timing mechanism comprising a shaft adapted to rotate in a single direction upon timing operation and upon resetting operation, drag means frictionally engaging said shaft to resist overrun thereof, said drag means comprising an engagement element loosely engaged about said shaft, an anchor member fixedly adjustable relative to said housing, and spring means connected between said anchor member and engaging element for applying friction-a1 drag to said shaft.

2. A timer assembly comprising a housing, an electric timing mechanism mounted in said housing, a resettable indicator in an upper region of said housing connected in driven relation with said timing mechanism and exposed for observation from externally of said housing, a flexible elongate tension member connected to said indicator and depending therefrom for effecting reset of said indicator upon downward pulling of said tension mernber, push-onpush-oif switch means mounted in said housing and electrically connected to said timing mechanism fior energizing and deenergizing the latter, an actuating arm located in said housing in a nonactuating position, a pivot shaft mounting said actuating arm for movement in opposite directions out of said n'onactuating position, said switch means including a push button extending downwardly for engagement with said actuating arm and adapted to be pushed upward by said arm for actuation of said switch means, said arm being connected to said tension member and located with respect to said switch means for pulling said tension member upon one direction of arm movement and actuating said switch means upon the other direction of arm movement, an operating member externally of said housing and fixed to said pivot shaft for movement therewith, and arranged to selectively start the timing mechanism, stop the timing mechanism, and reset the indicator.

3. A time: assembly according to claim 2, said push button being resiliently urged downward and engaging said actuating arm to urge the latter to its nonactuating position and said tension member drawing said actuating arm upward to its nonactuating position.

4. A timer assembly according to claim 3, in comb-ination with switch-mounting means mounting said switch means for vertical adjustment so that said push button urges arm to its nonactuating position against the drawing of said tension member when the latter is in its nonactuating position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,034,613 Forsythe Mar. 17, 1936 2,058,712 Muir et a1 Oct. 27, 1936 2,233,368 Newman Feb. 25, 1941 2,287,011 Beebe June 23, 1942 2,364,856 Lassieur Dec. 12, 1944 

1. A TIMER ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A HOUSING, AN ELECTRICAL TIMING MECHANISM MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING, A RESETTABLE INDICATOR OF ELASPED TIME IN SAID HOUSING CONNECTED IN DRIVEN RELATION WITH SAID TIMING MECHANISM AND EXPOSED FOR OBSERVATION EXTERNALLY OF SAID HOUSING, PUSH-ON-PUSHOFF SWITCH MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING AND ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO SAID TIMING MECHANISM FOR ENERGIZING AND DEENERGIZING THE LATTER, AN ACTUATING MEMBER LOCATED IN SAID HOUSING IN A NONACTUATING POSITION, MEANS MOUNTING SAID ACTUATING MEMBER FOR MOVEMENT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS OUT OF SAID NONACTUATING POSITION, CONNECTION MEANS ON EACH OF SAID SWITCH MEANS AND INDICATOR AND CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATING MEMBER FOR RESPECTIVELY ACTUATING SAID SWITCH MEANS IN ONE DIRECTION OF ACTUATING-MEMBER MOVEMENT AND RESETTING SAID INDICATOR IN THE OTHER DIRECTION OF ACTUATING-MEMBER MOVEMENT, AND AN OPERATING MEMBER EXPOSED EXTERNALLY OF SAID HOUSING AND CONNECTED TO SAID ACTUATING MEMBER FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH, WHEREBY A USER CAN CONVENIENTLY START AND STOP THE TIMING MECHANISM BY OPERATING OF SAID ACTUATING MEMBER AND SELECTIVELY RESET SAID INDICATOR, THE CONNECTION MEANS ON SAID SWITCH MEANS COMPRISING A PRESSURE MEMBER FOR URGING SAID ACTUATING MEMBER IN SAID OTHER DIRECTION TOWARD SAID NONACTUATING POSITION, AND THE CONNECTION MEANS ON SAID INDICATOR COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE TENSION MEMBER FOR URGING SAID ACTUATING MEMBER IN SAID ONE DIRECTION TOWARD SAID NONACTUATING POSITION, WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF SAID ACTUATING MEMBER IN SAID ONE DIRECTION FROM SAID NONACTUATING POSITION RELAXES SAID TENSION MEMBER TO AVOID RESTING OF SAID INDICATOR, SAID OPERATING MEMBER COMPRISING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL BAR PIVOTED INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS TO EFFECT ACTUATION OF SAID SWITCH MEANS AND RESETTING OF SAID INDICATOR ON DEPRESSION OF RESPECTIVE ENDS OF SAID OPERATING MEMBER, SAID TIMING MECHANISM COMPRISING A SHAFT ADAPTED TO ROTATE IN A SINGLE DIRECTION UPON TIMING OPERATION AND UPON RESETTING OPERATION, DRAG MEANS FRICTIONALLY ENGAGING SAID SHAFT TO RESIST OVERRUN THEREOF, SAID DRAG MEANS COMPRISING AN ENGAGEMENT ELEMENT LOOSELY ENGAGED ABOUT SAID SHAFT, AN ANCHOR MEMBER FIXEDLY ADJUSTABLE RELATIVE TO SAID HOUSING, AND SPRING MEANS CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID ANCHOR MEMBER AND ENGAGING ELEMENT FOR APPLYING FRICTIONAL DRAG TO SAID SHAFT. 